Joystick sticking

[bigredsk10]

Frequently, when I push my joystick to the right and then center it again, the character on screen acts like I am still pushing the joystick to the right and promptly walks to his death. Does anyone know what could cause this? My thinking was that it was something wrong with the wiring but everything seems secure so I am at a loss. The joystick is a Happ Super.

 I apologize if this is a common problem, I didnt find anything when I researched it.

[isucamper]

I recently had this happen on a brand new Happ rotary stick, which I would think is pretty similar in construction to your super.  In my case, the joystick actuator at the bottom of the joystick shaft was touching the bottom microswitch even when centered.  It was not quite pressing the switch close, but if I moved the joystick up (pressing the bottom microswitch) and then centered it, there was a possibility that the switch would stick and stay closed.  Then just nudging the stick up would be enough that the microswitch would open back up again.

I played with it a bit, and I think it was a simple matter of the micro switch being screwed too tightly into the base.  I unscrewed the switch, took it off, examined it, and then put it back on but didn't tighten the screw as much.  After that, I had no more problems. 

I would suggest looking underneath your stick to identify which microswitch is sticking.  Then take it off and try to widen the screwhole a bit by screwing the screw in and taking it out a few times (man, this is sounding dirty).  Then screw the switch back on and see if it still happens.  It's also possible that, if the joystick is brand new, that it just needs a bit of breaking in before it works properly. 

Hope that makes sense.

[bigredsk10]

Thanks! Based on your advice I started taking the joystick apart in order to loosen up all the pieces. I started playing with the different pieces and I figured out that I had a cone shaped piece on upside down. Its now flipped and everything works perfect! The sad part is my arcade machines been built for more than a year and this is the first time I took the initiative to disassemble it and figure out what the problem was. So anyways thanks for your help!

[Games001]

That's ok.. errors happen.  I built a machine for a client and could not figure out why my left stick was constantly pulling UP, even when centered and not touching the microswitch.

Lesson #23229: ALWAYS check to be sure you are +wired to the right tab (NO in this case was actually wired as NC).

Took me nearly 3 hours to figure out the problem.. and the first step in any troubleshooting issue should be what kids??  Is it plugged in Sir?